


Solangelo : Secret first date

by DaisyMayTinklePants



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-21 23:40:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11368035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaisyMayTinklePants/pseuds/DaisyMayTinklePants
Summary: Chapter 2 of a series I am writing. I have thought out the whole plot . I just have to write it all down. Series doesn’t have a name yet.Nico and Will go on a first date and Nico wonders if it is a date the whole time





	1. Solangelo: First Day of Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico's first day of camp after HOO series

Nico walked into his cabin and slid down the closed door. He titled is head back and smirked. Today had been the one of the best days of his demigod life.

It was his first day out of the infirmary. He has spent several days there under the watchful eye of Will Solace while he recouped from using too much underworld magic. He had almost faded into the shadows permanently. That morning Will gave him one last check and said  
he was good to go, and not to push the shadow traveling.  
“That means staying at camp for awhile” Will smiled with a smug face.  
Nico attempted to smile back at Will. He hadn’t smiled in so long it felt unnatural.  
The healing son of Apollo had been so nice to him the past 3 days.When Nico ate lunch or dinner Will would pull up a chair beside Nico’s bed and talk to him about pretty much everything. He wanted to try and show him he appreciated everything he had  
done.

His smile must have been pretty awkward looking, because it made the smug look fade off of Wills face and turned to pure amusement. Crinkles appeared around his blue eyes. His skin was tan, it made him look like he was glowing. He had lots of freckles across his nose.The bright blonde hair didn’t help with the glowing. Maybe all children of Apollo glowed.  
Nico caught himself staring and lowered his head. Will was very  
good looking, and sweet, and kind, and funny, and kinda annoying. Kinda like Apollo now that Nico thought about it.

Stop thinking like that he thought to himself. Will was way out of his league.

“Thanks for everything Will” Nico said.

“No problem. It’s what I’m good at. Healing demigods. I guess my siblings got the lame gifts from my dad” he joked.  
Nico did his awkward smile again, “I’ll see you around”

“I’ll see you at the campfire tonight. Promise to save me a seat?”

“Sure. I’m not much for the campfire though. I don’t sing.”

“Don’t worry about that I’ll sing enough for both of us”.  
He gave a dazzling smile. Nico felt himself flush a little.  
“Anyway, see you” Nico said as he jumped off the bed, and hurriedly grabbed his sweater leaving the infirmary.

When he got outside he could see that the sun was almost all the way up. Campers were already beginning to head down to the dinning Pavillion. Nico followed suit.

For breakfast he had some eggs over easy, toast, chocolate milk, and some orange slices. Pretty much his perfect breakfast after  
McMuffins. He scanned the dinning Pavillion and then went to sit at the Hades table. When he sat down and was about to dip his toast in his eggs Jason came and sat across from him with Piper.

Nico smiled again. He liked Jason. The guy was pretty much the only friend he had at camp. Wow he was now up to 1 really close friends. He was gonna have to pace himself as to not get too popular. He smiled at his own joke.  
“Sword practice with me and Percy after lunch? If the big three cabins team up could be alot of fun.” Jason offered sounding excited.

“Sounds great. I’d really love to get back into practice” Nico said.

“Then if you want Nico the Aphrodite cabin is helping rebuild some cabins do you want to help?” Piper asked.

“Ya, sure I guess.”  
Nico didn’t know how he could help. He wasn’t that great of a decorator, especially compared to the Aphrodite kids. Nor was he as good at architecture as the Athens kids.

Piper smiled. Nico felt himself smiling again this time he didn’t need to force it, it just happened.

Piper then went on telling Nico and Jason about her plans for making the new minor god cabins Jason had promised to  
build feel more homey.

After breakfast Nico followed Jason to the sword arena. Percy must have been there already there his bag was laying on the bench. They looked around and couldn’t see him. Mrs O'Leary was in her corner eating a large bowl of food. She looked up as they walked in and wagged her tail excitedly. Nico walked over and scratched her ear as she went back to devouring a truck load of kibble.  
“Huh, I wonder where Percy is? He can’t be far” Jason thought out loud.

Jason went to open the equipment storage room to grab some new dummies and quickly shut it again.

“What?” Nico asked.

He walked forward and opened the storage room door before Jason could stop him. Percy and an Annabeth where leaning against a hanging punching bag  
very much entangled. They where trying to hope away from each other but with no luck. Percy’s feet were tangled in a celestial bronze net that had fallen on the floor. Annabeth tried to push him off but all of Percy’s weight was against her. Eventually she managed to push him down sideways and quickly brushed her hair with her finger to fix it so it didn’t look so messy. She lowered her head and made a small cough. She quickly got out of the arena without even in ‘Hey, sup?’.  
Percy looked up from the floor at Nico and Jason. His face was really red but he smirked proudly.  
He stumbled up and kicked off the net.

“So it would be great if you didn’t tell Chiron about that”

Nico nodded with a smirk.

“Fine I won’t tell Chiron, but I kinda have to tell Piper. She’ll just love that” Jason chortled.  
“Whatever there Mr.Perfect. Maybe it would do you some good to break the rules once and awhile. I’m sure Piper would appreciate that.” Percy tried to chirp with a half irritated half amused voice.

“What happens between Piper and I is between Piper and I…. and probably her mom” he said.

He didn’t seem very thrilled about that last part. One if the downside of dating a daughter of the love God.  
“Annabeth tells Piper everything so she probably already knows” Percy said.

“Let’s save Percy some dignity and get to practicing.” Nick said with a smirk as well.

Sword practice left Nico feeling sore and extremely sweaty. On the bright side he had managed to beat the snot out of Percy after losing embarrassingly to Jason the first round. Percy seemed pretty tired. Nico wondered if it had anything to do with sneaking  
around early in the morning to snog Annabeth.

At lunch Nico sat with Frank and Hazel. The twelfth legion was leaving after lunch to head back to New Rome. Hazel and Frank were so cute with each other. Frank held her hand under the table hoping that Nico wouldn’t notice. When Nico turned around he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Frank would sneak kisses on her temple. He was so happy Hazel had found the big gal-lout. He may look like a buff  
war commander, but he was rally just a giant cuddly teddy bear with her. It made him feel better about staying at Camp Half Blood. Frank would keep her safe. Not that she needed Frank. She was perfectly capable of cutting down anyone who angered her. But it was his sister and you just never get over the feeling of wanting to protect your siblings.

Nico patted Frank on the back and kissed Hazel on the cheeks and said his goodbyes.  
“Hopefully I’ll see you sooner than you think. I’ll stop by new Rome whenever I can shadow travel again.”

Nico then headed towards the cabins. There the Athena kids had set up a bunch of tables that had building instructions and plans laid out. Annabeth was talking the Piper about the plans. She pretended the closet incident hadn’t happened. But Piper gave Nico a smile and rolled her eyes.

“So Nico we were wondering if  
you wanted to help the Hermes kids rebuild the ceiling on the Zeus cabin.maybe you can scare them into being productive” Nico nodded.

“I can do scary”

The Hermes kids were the most unorganized bunch of half bloods Nico has ever had to work with. Only a third of the cabin did any work at a time. Most of the time they were trying to prank each other by sneaking fake spider down backs, flinging paint at  
each other, and trying to steal things from unsuspecting passers-bys.

“I have a better idea. How about we make other people do the hard work” Nico said to Annabeth.

Connor Stool came over and said “Anything to make this go quicker. I don’t think I can keep getting paint thrown I my mouth”

Nico concentrated. He felt to see what was far below him. Hmmm  
some bones of a squirrel, farther down something that felt like a drakon, then BINGO.  
He raised about 8 ghostly skeletons. Where they came from he didn’t know. Sometimes he felt as if skeletons just showed up whenever he was looking for them.

“Do whatever Annabeth here says to fix the cabin” he ordered. He looked over at Annabeth.

“There all yours”  
Anabel smiled as if she was impressed. The Aphrodite kids a d some of the Hermes kids looks scared yet interested. Annabeth started giving out orders.

Nico sat down against a tree and watched as his skeletons took over the build. Summoning those skeletons had made him very tired. Probably a repercussion from overusing his powers. His head swam slightly. Piper passed him down some water.

After the build was complete the  
skeletons crumbled back into the earth. One left a giant blue patch in the ground when he melted from the bucket of paint that the Julia Fiengold had ‘accidentally’ dropped on it.

At dinner Nico grabbed a burger and some fries. He dropped half his fries in the fire saying a quick prayer to his dad. As he was walking back to his table a bunch of campers waved at him, and said hey. One guy from the Hepheastus cabin even fist bumped him. Nico felt awkward  
and uncomfortable again. He wasn’t use to people being so nice to him. Maybe coming back from a super dangerous quest made you instantly popular?

He ate quickly and then went back to his cabin. He quickly changed and showered. Then threw on a black wool sweater. The sun was setting and it was getting cold. He headed down to the campfire. A few people were already there. Nico looked around for Will but saw no blonde hair among the group. Then he  
quickly looked down at his feet. What was he doing getting all excited to see Will. He was being stupid. Jason and Piper came up behind him. Jason sat beside him and Piper sat down in the grass. She laid her head against Jason’s knee.

She started humming a song Nico didn’t know. It was kinda catchy yet sickening (like all campfire songs). Once she stared humming most of campers stopped taking and started listening. Although she  
didn’t mean it her charm speak often wove into her singing making everyone want to stop and listen. Jason stared playing with a piece of her hair.

“We don’t even have to try, it’s always a good time” Jason chimed in out of tune.  
Piper smiled widely. The sun had gone down and her face shone beautifully in the fire light. Jason leaned down the kissed the top of her head and she began to sing too.  
“Whoa-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, whoa-  
oh-oh”  
Soon others had joined in. An Apollo kids pulled out an acoustic guitar. How cliché Nico thought as he moved his head to the rhythm. Never on beat tho.

Soon they were singing classic campfire songs. The ones that were super annoying yet really fun to sing.

About two songs in Will Solace sneaked up behind Nico and plopped down beside him. There wasn’t much room and he ended  
up knocking some Ares kids backwards off the bench. The Ares kid looked pretty mad, but then they decided to get revenge later and went and sat with some pretty Aphrodite girl. Butterflies stated flapping in Nico’s stomach once Will sat down he was squished in so he was touching Nico. Nico was having trouble calming those stupid butterflies.

“You said you would save me a seat” Will teased.

“ I did. But I wasn’t going to tell  
that big Ares kid to go somewhere else”

“I’m just poking fun at you. No big deal. So has anyone started Bohemian Rhapsody yet?” he asked.

Nico didn’t know what that meant.  
“UMmm I don’t think so yet”

“Great” he smiled “It’s the only song I’m any good at. Don’t have the natural music talent like my brother”. He pointed to the guy  
with he guitar.

Will was right he wasn't a good singer. But he sang so enthusiastically it didn’t matter.

At one point during a song called 500 miles Will placed his arm around Nico’s shoulders. Not on top of his shoulder like Jason would do to annoy Nico. No w  
Will’s arm was around his shoulders. His hand was lightly holding his arm on the other side. Nico stiffened. He didn’t like being touched. Will kept holding  
him. At the chorus everyone started bouncing up and down in their seats. Will took this time to pull Nico a little closer while everyone one was per occupied. The butterflies that had begun since Will sat down started doing backflips. Nico tried to relax and let Will pull him a little closer. He looked over at Will. He was practically shouting the chorus like everyone else.

“ DA DA DAH!” one side would shout.  
“DA DA DAH” the other side  
would shout back.

Will noticed Nico looking at him form the corner of his eye. He gave a small side smile at Nico. Nico turned red and tried to join in the shouting that was passing off as singing. He was slightly behind so that he would be still going for half a second after everyone else.  
Jason had been watching the whole exchange. He winked at Nico. Nico threw him a face.

As the night drew in Nico got very  
tired. It had been a very long day. Sword fighting and summoning the dead took alot out of a person. His head nodded slightly as he fought to keep his eyes open.

Eventually during the song We Are Never Getting Back Together he nodded off so strong his head rested on Wills shoulder. Once the song was over he snapped out of it and jumped up.

Will shook him slightly. Smiling like an idiot. His face was glowing in the camp fire light.  
“Can I walk you to your cabin before you fall asleep right in the middle of the sing along?”

Nico nodded, and got up with Will. They walked beside each other towards the cabins. It was pitch black away from the campfire. Nico had no problem, but he noticed Will kept tripping slightly when the ground went uneven. His hands had retreated to his Hoodie pocket. They seemed to be clenching and twisting in one another.  
Once they got to the Hades cabin Nico went to say thanks and goodnight, but Will spoke first.

“UMmm hey Nico. I was wondering…… UMmm I mean if you not busy… Or maybe not interested. ….. But I was hoping….. UMmm mm. I’m kinda stupid at this…. UMmm. would you like to spend the day with me with me tomorrow its the day off… And UMmm. I kinda  
wanted to spend it with you…. I mean if u want…. UMmm if your interested that is?”

Nico paused for a moment. The butterflies in his stomach had migrated to his throat making it hard to talk.

He managed a weak “ya…..Id love to.”

Will smiled then quickly turned and practically ran back to the campfire.  
Nico walked into his cabin and slid down the closed door. He titled is head back and smirked. Today had been the one of the best days of his demigod life.

It took him a little while to come to his senses and head to his bed . Maybe camp wouldn’t be so bad after all.


	2. Solangelo: Secret First Date

Nico wasn’t sure when he had finally fallen asleep. All he knew was that soon after his head touched the pillow he was in Tartarus again. The putrid acid smell of the air. The fire of the Phelgathon burning in his throat, and the voices. When Nico had first fallen into Tartarus the voices of despair and pain had begun yelling at him. It was like being 3 paranoid schizophrenics at once. It made his head ring. The voices and their feelings washed into him. Driving him close to madness. Nico had talked to Percy and Annabeth briefly about their trip to Tartarus. They didn’t hear the voice. Maybe it was because he was a child of the underworld. Then he fell into darkness.

He awoke with a yelp, and shot straight up. His sheets were soaked with sweat. His hair was drenched. That wasn’t a good sing since the Hades cabin was always cold. He stared at the wall for a few seconds. He sun hadn’t risen yet, but his alarm clock said it was 4:30 am.

Great Nico thought. He would never get back to bed. Then he remembers that he had promised will that they would spend the day together. The thought instantly gave him a heat flash. He remembered how stupid he sounded when Will asked him to spend the day with him. Nico didn’t know if it was a date, maybe it was just a thing people did to get to know one another and become friends. He didn’t really know how this making friend’s thing worked. But what if it was a date. He got butterflies thinking about it. No it wasn’t a date, Will would have said that. But they would still be spending the day together which sent some new butterflies into his stomach. Then a flood of panic washed over him.

He got to his feet and walked into the bathroom. He took a shower, making sure to scrubs every part of his body and shampooing his hair twice. He then brushed his teeth 3 times, and put on a good amount of deodorant. He tended to sweat a lot when he was nervous. He then spent quite a while trying to comb his hair. It was curly and a little long. Eventually he gave up. It always looked the same no matter what he did.

Picking out clothes was the hardest part. Everything he owned was black. It was too hot outside to wear a sweater, and his aviator’s jacket had been destroyed. Eventually he settled on his very basic black jeans with ripped knees from his last adventure, black shoes, and the ever so creative black plain black shirt with a tiny skull on the side of the tight collar. He put on his silver skull ring.

He looked out the window. The sun was beginning to rise over the lake. Well technically its morning now so he shouldn’t get in trouble by the harpies for leaving his cabin. Hopefully he could get to the dinning pavilion early to grab a piece of fruit before he lost his appetite to nerves.

The grass was covered with dew, and the sky was a brilliant shades of pink and orange. The camp looked beautiful. As he crossed the lawn in front of the other cabins he noticed Will was leaning against the Apollo cabin. Munching on a granola bar watching the sun rise.

He was wearing some faded baby blue jeans that he had cut so that they were very long shorts. His shirt was an obnoxious yellow orange and red tye dye. They couldn’t have cashed more than this. He smiled when he saw Nico.

“I didn’t think you would be up so early” Will said and Nico approached.

“What are you doing up then?” Nico asked.

“Talking to my dad” Will said staring at the sunrise with that distant relaxed look he always had.

Nico jut nodded. Demigods tended to talk to themselves hoping their parents where listening. Nico usually did it while he stared into fires. Of course Hades never answered.

“Here” Will threw him a granola bar. “Best breakfast you will ever have.”

Nico looked down this wasn’t a typical granola bar. It looked like a large clump of dried dark mud, with bits of nuts in it. It resembled something Nico definitely didn’t want to out in his mouth.

“Ummmm ill pass.”

“Come on. It’s not poisonous. I made them myself. Super demigod food that is”

Nico sighed and took a bite. It was pretty good. It tasted like peanut butter and chocolate.

“See I told you its good”

“So what do you usually do on your days off?” Nico asked.

Will looked away from the sunrise and at Nico. His freckled face broke into a smile.

“Well usually I sit in my cabin and study medical journals, but today I asked Chiron if we could head into NY”

Nico grinned.

“That sounds awesome. Can we stop by a McDonalds though if we are going into the city?

Will looked at him quizzically.

“Sure ill add it to the list” he said taping his temple in a joking way.

*

Argus the camp security guard/ part time demigod van driver dropped the off by central park.

They walked through the park. Most people were hurrying through the park as if they had somewhere to be on a Saturday morning. There were some joggers and people on bikes they moved over for. The rest of the park was filled with overexcited tourists. Will spent the walk asking Nico about himself. What he liked and more about himself. While he was in the infirmary he usually skidded these questions from Will. He didn’t like people knowing too much about him. It made him vulnerable. But Nico felt more comfortable and trusting of Will.

He spent the walk talking with Will about Mythomagic and how he wanted to get back into it. What his favorite cards where and what he use to have in his collection. Will seemed genuinely interested. He got to the talking about his figurines when he remembered the Hades figurine he still kept hidden under his bed. The last token he had from Bianca. All he had left of her was that stupid figure that got her killed and his skull ring. He trailed off and slumped his head slightly. The feeling of resentment and hurt was growing on his face.

Will noticed he stopped talking and looked over.

“What’s up?”

“nothing just thought of some stuff I’d rather not talk about”

Wills smile faded in understating. Then he smiled again.

“It’s ok. Were almost there anyway”

“Where is there?” Nico asked.

Will just smirked at him and exited a park gate.

They came out in front of the natural history museum. The building was regal. And filled with tourists.

“Ever been her before?” Will asked

“Nope” Nico replied “I haven’t really been to any museums without looking for some cursed object or a ghost”

“Well then you’re about to get your first museum tour. Led by the least knowledgeable guide, me.”

Nico smiled and followed him up the stairs. He had never been in a museum before. Scratch that, he had never been in a museum and had actually spent time enjoying it. He had once broken into the Smithsonian to talk to some spirits for some stupid quest his dad sent him on. But never mind that now.

They dodged excited children who ran around wildly while their parent walked dejectedly behind them. The first place Will wanted to go was the dinosaur exhibit. Nico was having such a great time. For once he had even stopped checking over his shoulders for monster. They stopped at a case containing a bunch of raptors claws. Nico pointed to one of the claw that was labeled as velociraptor.

“That’s not a velociraptor claw, that’s a chimera claw.”

“It says found with velociraptor bones" Will puzzled.

“I know a chimera’s claw when I see one. I almost had my guts spilled out by a chimera once” Nico said

“hhhhmmmmm, maybe a velociraptor died fighting a chimera” Will jokingly suggested.

Nico laughed. When he started laughing the tiny remains of some dinosaur arms bones began to shake.

“Hey want to see something cool?” Nico asked Will.

“Of course”

Nico led will to a corner exhibit that wasn’t so crowded. Inside was the skeleton of a micro raptor . Nico checked over his shoulder to make sure no one was around and watching then closed his eyes in concentration. The skeleton rose up and reformed the figure of the micro raptor. It looked at Nico curiously as if saying ‘Hey I was napping here’. Will laughed in amazement. The tiny dinosaur started chasing its tail.

“That’s so cool” Will said.

That was the first time anyone had called Nico reanimating the dead cool. He smiled, he had never used his powers for fun before, but will looked so impressed he wanted to show off more. He thought it was best to leave it like that. A tiny skeleton was one thing but a T Rrex coming to life probably wouldn’t work out very well in a crowded museum.

A little boy came over and pointed at the dinosaur.

“Daddy Daddy come and look. This dinosaur is alive!”

The dad was behind on his phone, not paying attention.

“Ya very cool Booby” he said not looking up.

Nico let the bones all back down.

After they explored every inch of the museum Nico started to notice he was hungry. As if on cue Will’s stomach growled. He looked at his watch.

“Wow its 5 o’clock already. I must have lost track of time” Will said.

Nico didn’t mind. He had had the best time hanging with Will and listening to the made up stories he had for each exhibit. They left the museum and started heading towards the nearest McDonalds just as Will promised. Nico order the largest burger they had and some fires. Will got a salad. Who orders a salad at McDonalds Nico thought?

As if reading his mind Will said “That stuff is going to kill you one day”

“With all the monsters we fight on a daily basis and you think I’ll die of cholesterol and high blood pressure?” Nico mused.

Will raise his eyebrow at him in challenge “Yes, yes I do” he said.

Nico rolled his eyes.

“Hey I saw that” Will said lightly punching his arm.

They sat down and Nico devoured his hamburger. Will ate his rabbit food. Once he was done he began to sneak fires out of Nico’s tray.

“You said that this stuff was practically poisonous “ Nico said as Will put another fire in his mouth.

“No I said that it was going to kill you. I however am only having a few.”

For only wanting a few Will ate almost all of Nico’s fires. He didn’t care though. He pulled the last fry out of the container.

“Do you want this death stick?” Nico asked

“Why yes thank you” Will replied mockingly.

Nico threw the fry in the air towards him. Will tried to catch it in his mouth but missed and it went sailing past him and hit the back of some annoyed looking biker with a beard. Nico quickly looked away pretending nothing had happened when the guy turned around. Will started snickering at Nico. When the big biker turned around Nico stuck his tongue out at Will who returned the gesture.

At 7 o’clock Argus pulled up to pick them up. Inside the van was Annabeth and Percy who Argus had just picked up from a visit to Percy’s moms place. When they first came in Annabeth gave him a smile.

“Hey Nico, hey Will. What were you to doing in the city today?” she asked interested.

“Nothing interesting. I just went with Nico to the museum.” Will replied calmly.

Annabeth smiled. She sat down beside Percy and gave him a knowing smile. Nico stared down at his feet trying to turn red. He felt a rise of resentment for Annabeth. What did she know what Nico was thinking. But the rest of the ride she just held Percy’s hand and her Percy and Will started talking. Nico just listened.

Sally Percy’s mom was apparently going to have a baby and Percy was really excited. He loved his step dad and was thrilled to have a baby brother or sister on the way.

When they got to camp they thanked Argus who nodded at them. They stated to head to their cabins to get ready for the campfire. Since it was the day off the campfire would go later tonight. Percy and Annabeth waved at them and ran off towards the cabins. Nico was pretty sure he saw them slip into the shadows once they reached the Poseidon cabin heading toward Canoe Lake instead. He didn’t say anything. Actually it made him smile. He was glad he was over Percy now. He was now just another friend, and he was glad he had found Annabeth to sneak away into the water with.

Him and Will sauntered towards the cabins. Will followed him all the way to the Hades cabin.

“See you at the campfire in five minutes?” Will asked.

Nico nodded and headed in his cabin. We saw Will turn around toward the Apollo cabin. He went to his closet and grabbed a black hoodie. He reached in his pocket and found that he still had the museum map. He smiled and paced it in his closet. He grabbed his Styngian iron sword and strapped it to his belt. Since they were back at camp he could carry it around again. He felt naked without it.

There was a knock at his door. Nico went outside. Will was back but now was wearing a bright red Red Cross first aid instructor sweater.

“You teach first aid?” Nico asked

“Ya I got qualified last fall so I could teach campers”

“Cool, could you teach me?” Nico asked.

“Of course, ill set aside time staring tomorrow. How about after archery practice?” Will proposed

“Sounds good” Nico said trying to hide the excitement he had.

They walked in silence for a while. Will continue to stare off in the distance looking relaxed and chill like usual.

Then all of a sudden he blurt out. “So was this like our first date? Or should I take you somewhere else next day off?”

Nico stopped in his tracks and stared at Will. Will turned and smiled at him. His hand resting calmly in his jacket pockets. His freckles shone slightly in the distant campfire light. Nico didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t good at this. He thought that will might be making fun of him. Then he realized from Will’s smile that he wasn’t joking. That left him more speechless. He liked will A LOT, but he didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t make himself sound stupid, but also let will know that he was secretly hoping it was a date.

What came out of his mouth was more of an incoherent babble.

“I’ll take that as a yes then” he said smugly. Nico threw him a look.

“Don’t be so full of yourself” Nico said as he elbowed Will playfully.

“So it was a date then?” Will pushed.

Nico rolled his eyes a little. Then he looked down at his feet.

“Ya I guess it was”

“Good” said will” because I think you’re really great and funny and ……. Kind of cute”

Cute? Nico thought. He could feel himself blushing. Will smiled at his accomplishment at making Nico blush at this.

“I guess you’re pretty ok to” Nico joked.

“Only ok? I’m hurt” Will also joked pretending his heart was breaking.

Nico pushed his shoulder lightly. And walked off towards the fire will ran to catch up with him.

They sat beside each other at the campfire, still talking about things they had talked about earlier in the day while everyone else sang and laughed.

As the night went on Nico couldn’t help but smile. Will Solace liked him too.


	3. Solangelo: First Aid Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will teaches Nico some first aid, and has to upstage Nico

Being the son of Hades, god of the dead Nico didn’t know much about healing or saving lives. Usually when he ran into dying people they usually screamed at him to go away thinking he was some sort of Thanatos (which is ridiculous since he had only claimed 2 souls in his lifetime. Sarcasm implied). Either way he saw a lot of people die, not so much on the surviving end.

 

After breakfast he met with Will in the Big House meeting room. Seymour was sleeping contently. Will had books and first aid supplies all across the ping pong table. He had bags under his eyes and he looked very tired. But he greeted Nico with the same enthusiastic annoyingly cheery voice.

 

“Hey Nico, I’m so glad you wanted to give this a try. This will be the first class I’m going to try and teach at camp. It’ll be good to practice teaching you before I teach other campers.”

 

Nico’s excitement was quickly smothered by a two hour long read through and talk about theory. Burns, cuts, concussions, impalement, blah blah blah. He couldn’t focus. His brain was too ADHD. He felt himself straining his eyes and muscles to keep his held up and listen to will, but instead of understanding what will was saying Nico only thought about how much his eyes wanted to close.

Eventually they moved onto tying bandages for more awesome, I mean more terrible, injuries. You  
know the occasional dismemberment or amputation.

Nico practiced on Will himself. Will tried to give Nico instructions verbally, but Nico was helpless. His bandages were all bunched up. The only thing he was good at was making them so tight Will winced and his finger turned slightly blue. His bandages were more medieval limb strangler then useful.

Nico frowned looking at Will’s tortured arm. Will reached over  
and cut it off since his fingers had started to swell.

 

“Ummmm, good first try Nico”, he tried to keep Nico’s spirits up.

“No it wasn’t. I suck" Nico complained.

“No you don’t. You made a very nice tourniquet" he said sincerely. “Here give me your arms and I’ll show you again before you try once more.”

He reached over to grab his arm. Nico flinched a little. He didn’t  
like to be touched. A natural reflex to living constantly around things that wanted to rip you to shreds.

“God’s Nico I’m not going to hurt you" Will said and grabbed his arm firmly. 

He pulled Nico back closer. He was much stronger than he looked. He gently wrapped the bandage around Nico’s arm. Nico paid close attention to how he folded it and tied it. When Will was done Nico had a perfect bandage.

 

“Wow you can do that super-fast.” Nico amazed.

Will blushed slightly “Actually I was going quite slow so you could see. I can do it way quicker.”

"Prove it. Show me” Nico said disbelievingly. 

Will smirked in a malicious sort of way. Half amused half ready for the challenge.

He ripped of the bandage off Nico, and then grabbed two others.

“Ready?” he said looking determined. Nico didn’t know Will could be so competitive. He usually gave off an aurora of ‘laid-backenenss’ if that was even a word.

Nico paused and then said "1 2 3, Go”

Will wrapped Nico’s bandages so tight and quick he didn’t even see Will’s hands move to tie them. He had wrapped both Nico’s arms in bandages and slings in less than 3 seconds. They were tight. Not the kind of slings that dangle. His arms were wrapped right up across his chest like a mummy. He could move them. He didn’t like this feeling. He tried to wriggle out but Will’s wrapping and knot skills won. 

 

“Can you please untie me? I’m starting to feel claustrophobic” Nico said struggling in his seat.

“Nah I like you better like his. Now you won’t be able to escape my talk on infection and  
poisonous weapons.“ Will smiled evilly.

Nico gave him an evil stare. "If you don’t untie me I’ll summon someone who will.” he threatened.

“Ok ok ok. No need to go summoning the dead and knocking yourself out. I’ll untie you” Will said seriously.

“I would not pass out” Nico said in protest. “I have summoned full undead armies before without  
even a daze”

Will smirked again. Nico was starting to get annoyed with that smirk.

“And I’m sure it was very impressive.” Will said sarcastically. “But for the next couple month you won’t be able to summon so much as a dead chauffeur without having to take a nap" he smiled at Nico. He had found out about Jules-Albert yesterday which was something Will had found amusing

Nico frowned and glared at Will. Then he turned to stare at Seymour on the wall, anywhere but at Will. Making the micro raptor the other day reanimated for 30 seconds had made Nico pretty tired. He had a feeling Will was right. Something he refuse to admit in front of Will

Will leaned in to untie Nico.

“Your squirming tightened the knots. One second” Will said.

His arms went around Nico to untie the bandages. Will’s face was right beside Nico’s. Nico kept his head turned looking at Seymour. Will smelled less like hospital soap today. Probably because he hadn’t been in the infirmary lately, but the sent was still there. Today the strongest sent on Will was even more intoxicating to Nico. He knew it sounded stupid but the guy smelled like sunshine. The smell you get when you walk outside the first real sunny day of summer. It was like fresh laundry and citrus. Mixed with fresh air and warmth. He tried not to breathe too deeply. He closed his eyes trying to gather his thought. Will hands tickled his neck as he tried to loosen the knots.

Then Nico quickly turned his head and pecked Will on the cheek. He didn’t know why he did it. He hadn’t thought about doing it, or planned to, but yet he did. He quickly turned his head back to Seymour still snoozing. Although Nico was pretty sure he had seen one eye suddenly close when he turned back. Will’s hands stopped as if he was frozen still on the knot. Nico risked a glance over. Will’s face was still facing backwards to Nico in the same place. Will’s cheeks had flushed bright red. He finished untying Nico, and pulled the bandages off. Still slightly red in the face. Nico felt himself go red. But he caught Will’s eyes and gave a small smile. 

Will moved in and kissed Nico full on the lips. He moved so quickly Nico didn’t register what was going on. He leaned back out of natural reflex. Both Will’s hands were on his shoulder to stop him from leaning back. The kiss lasted all of 3 seconds. But 3 Mississippi’s seemed to be a lot longer than Nico remembered. As they pulled apart Seymour decided to stop pretending to be asleep and gave a roar. Probably channeling the spirit of Coach Hedge yelling ‘CUT THAT OUT’.

 

Will smiled so widely the corners of his mouth almost touched his eyes. He gave a little laugh and threw a cheesy cracker at the Jaguar head.

Nico was still blushing. His lips felt burnt as if he had gone outside without sunscreen for a  
couple hours.

“You always have to upstage me don’t you?” Nico asked.

Will nodded and said “Let’s get back to how to wrap up disemboweled guts shall we.”


	4. Solangelo:  Kiss on the Big House Roof

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and Nico finally Kiss. Title says it all

Nico woke up in a panic as usual. His dreams were always haunted with the depths of Tartarus, and also ended in him drowning in popcorn. Drowning in popcorn may seem silly and maybe even fun for most people, but not to a demigod who once spent time as a stalk of corn. He check he alarm clock beside he bed. Was 3 in the afternoon? He sat up and sighed.

Being the only camper in cabin 13 had its benefits. It meant that he was head counselor which meant he got to choose what his cabin did all day. It also meant it was easy for him to get out of training. Of course he couldn’t push his luck of Chiron would be at his door every morning to make sure Nico didn’t sleep his summer away. The Hades cabin was very dark, therefore it was very easy to accidentally sleep in since there was no natural way of knowing the sun had risen. It was also always cold in the Hades cabin. Probably because it was made of solid obsidian. This was a benefit in the summer when it was scorching outside, but Nico didn’t know how this was going to work out come winter. Nico laid back down in his blankets. For a minute he contemplated going back to bed so he could stay up later tonight. He might even go for a midnight stroll through the forest. That sounded nice to him. He enjoyed walking in the dark. The forest at Camp Half-blood was the most entertaining place to walk in the middle of the night since he scared the bejebus out of the dryads and satyrs.

Just as he closed his eye he heard a rap at the door. He opened one eye and looked at the door weighing his chance of pretending he wasn’t here. Then he heard a voice behind the door.

“Nico I know you’re in there. Get out here and come hang out or I’ll come in there and drag you out.”

It was the voice of Jason Grace. Nico sighed thankfully. For a minute he thought he jinxed himself and it was Chiron.

“Give me a sec, I got to clean up and get dressed” he shouted back.

“Fine we will be at the beach”. Nico heard Jason walk off the Hades cabin porch.

Nico got up and went to the bathroom to clean up. He then went and picked out some appropriate clothes. It was warm at the beach so he grabbed some long black shorts, and his all too creative black t-shirt with dancing skeletons. There were a few holes in it from past quests, but Nico didn’t care. It was his favorite shirt.

He grabbed his styngian iron sword and strapped it to his belt. You know your typical beach wear. He walked out of the cabin and walked through the bustle of Camp. Camp was full of activity because this was the last days the summer campers would be here. Soon everyone would be headed back to their homes, and only a few year rounder’s would be staying. Tonight there was going to be a big camp fire, with fireworks curtsy of the Hephaestus cabin. As he passed the Hephaestus cabin he saw tons of burly looking kids scrambling with tons of explosives and various dangerous thing preparing the show. He heard Harley excitedly telling to his siblings about how he had packed the firework he was holding to turn in a giant dragon of sparklers that would attack another dragon he was going to make in another colour.

Nico really hoped that the firework dragons did what they were supposed to so he wouldn’t have to fight fireworks tonight.

As he approached the beach he noticed 3 people sprawled out on the sand. Two other people were in the water. Jason, Annabeth and Will were on beach towels all talking to each other and watching as piper rode some waves on her surfboard. Percy sat on his surfboard probably making the waves, as Nico was pretty sure he had never seen waves this big in Long Island before.

We he approached Jason noticed him and waved. Annabeth and Jason were both sporting Camp Half-blood t-shirts, except Jason was wearing blue board shorts while Annabeth had bathing suit bottoms on. Will was leaning back on the sand half on his towel wearing plain orange shorts and a bright white t-shirt. Nico was glad to see him out of his tye dye shirts. He looked much better in white. Nico then swore at himself in his head for thinking that way.

What a dork Nico thought.

Then he smiled, Jason was great. Probably he only person he trusted. His list was short so you knew it was a very covenant list. He only 2 other people that had made it were Reyna and Coach Hedge. Although as Nico go closer to Will he realized that Will was slowly making his list.

When he reached them he could hear Annabeth going on about artificial sweetener. Nico didn’t know how they got on that subject, but decided to let her continue her rant. He went to go sit in the sand beside Jason but Will caught his attention and waved for him to come sit on his towel with him. Nico was grateful because the sand was burning hot. He didn’t know how Will had the tolerance to lay his legs in the sand.

Nico looked out at the ocean. He watched as Piper paddled out to a wave with Percy. As they got close she stood up and rode the wave towards the beach. Percy on the other hand managed to get on top of his board shakily. He rode it for about 5 seconds before the board went flying from under him and he face planted in the waves. Nico snorted out loud, and quickly covered his mouth to stop the embarrassing sound.

He remembered when he first met Percy he asked him whether he was a good surfer since his dad was Poseidon. Apparently Poseidon wasn’t the god of surfers.

Jason stared laughing too. Annabeth stopped talking and looked up at what they were laughing at. Percy’s head could be seen bobbing out of the water. Piper had reached the shore and was walking towards them. Percy summoned a water current and aqua manned himself to the shore as well. His lost board washed up behind him.

Hey both came over and sat down. Will reached behind him and passed hem some sunscreen.

“Reapply or you’re going to regret it” he warned. “I can feel you guys are staring to burn”

They did as they were told. Will threw me a bottle too.

“You as well pale death boy”

He glared at him but did as I was told.

Percy laid back on the sand.

“I didn’t think it would be so hard” He protested.

Piper grinned “Just takes some practice”

Percy frowned. Then he sat up and grabbed Annabeth’s hand. The whole back of him was covered in sand.

“Come try it with me” he said.

Annabeth didn’t argue. She got up and walked hand in hand with him to the water.

“So Nico how are you doing?” Jason asked.

Nico thought it a strange question but Jason must have been trying to start a conversation with him. So he went with it.

“Um fine I guess. Just tired a lot lately. You know nightmares. But I also think it might have to do with the fact the Hades cabin is super creepy. I don’t know who decorated it but I am not a vampire.”

Everyone frowned at the nightmare comment but didn’t saying anything. Demigods knew all about nightmares.

“Maybe Will can help you redecorate over the fall.” Piper suggested. “I’m sure he’d be able to brighten the place up” she joked.

“Ha ha, very funny sun god joke. But I don’t have my dad’s blinding personality or gifts so the most I could do is help repaint” Will replied.

Piper just smiled. She caught Nico’s eyes and he was prey sure she was up to something. It was the look Percy got when he was going to do something Annabeth told him not to do.

Nico averted his gaze. Piper’s mom was the god of love. He really hoped she could sense the sight tension Nico had right now being so close to Will. He tried his best to keep a acceptable distance from Will so as to not raise questions, but also far enough so that Wills feeling didn’t get hurt. He guessed they were friends now so it might be rude. Well friends might not be exactly what they were. But Nico didn’t have a name for someone he was friends who he really liked, and had kissed only 1 ½ times. Also no one knew about those last 2 parts.

He finished putting on sunscreen. He had accidentally forgot to run in a large patch on his nose. But no one said anything. They sat on the beach talking about yearly plans. Jason was going to travel between the camps between going to school with Piper in LA to build temples for he minor gods. Piper didn’t really have anything planned except spending time with her dad who agreed to take the year off from filming and touring. Coach Hedge, Nellie, and baby chuck were going with them too. Just one big happy family. Nico was kind jealous. It sounded as if they had a lot to look forward to this winter. Plus baby Chuck was the most adorable little kid Nico had ever seen. It was also the first baby to not cry when he held it. Not than Nico had held a lot of babies. But most would start crying even if he passed their strollers. Chuck just grumpily shaked his fist and demanded more milk and mushed up recycled cardboard. Baby goats were weird that way.

Wil talked about how he wanted to start his first aid course, as well as work on his healing skills. A summer of training and improvement. How very typical demigod of him. Nico thought about what he wanted to do. He couldn’t think of anything. Then he thought about Will’s plans, and honestly they stated to sound very nice. He definetly could improve his skills. Other often told him that he was the most powerful demigod they met, yet Nico didn’t feel that way. He wanted to be a great hero, not some half hero hat passed out from using his powers to much.

He must have looked upset because Piper interjected his thinking .

“What’s wrong Nico?” she asked.

“Nothing I was just thinking about the same thing Will was saying. I think I want to stay at camp and work on my powers some more. It would be nice to be able to shadow travel without fading into the darkness.” Nico replied

“ Well this is the place to work on it Nico” Jason chimed in. “I mean what better place than home”

Nico smiled.

“Ya I guess this is home now, but if it’s going to be home then I need to get rid of the coffin like decor in my cabin” Nico joked.

Everyone smiled.

That night the campfire burned several stories tall. The singing from every camper and the excited atmosphere made it grow larger than Nico had ever seen it before.

Nico sat by the edge of the circle legs crossed with his hands in the grass behind him. Will came up beside him and sat down. He had put his first aid instructor sweater on. Red surprisingly went with his tan skin and blonde hair. It kind of made him resemble the flames hat were coming out of the camp fire.

Will didn’t say anything for a while. He just stared at the campers who had all begun a chorus of

‘When I’m gone. When I’m gone. You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone’

He felt something brush against his left hand. He jerked it away out of habit. Stupid battle reflexes. He noticed it was just Will’s hand. Will gave an apologetic smile. Nico returned it and put his hand back down where it was. Will moved his hand over Nico’s. It was subtle but Nico checked around to make sure no one was looking.

Will looked at Nico.

“Is this ok?” he asked “ I mean if not I can go I don’t want to feel…” he trailed off

“it’s ok. I promise. Just umm idk if I want everyone to know yet?” Nico said very quietly.

Will gave him a sympathetic smile. Nico felt bad about what he just said. Not because it wasn’t how he felt, but because he didn’t want Will to feel like Nico was shunning him because he was scared.

“It’s not you Will. I promise. It’s just… well. I don’t know how everyone would react. I’m not very liked as it is. And ….” He trailed off and stayed silent for a long time.

Will just kindly smiled at him.

“Hey it’s ok Nico. I just want to let you know I really like you” he whispered for Nico’s sake.

Nico sat uncomfortably. He didn’t saying anything for a while. Then he realized Will’s smile was fading. Nico had a feeling he might have hurt Will’s feelings. Will just told him he like him, and Nico had said nothing.

“Hey, do you want to go somewhere cool?” he asked Will.

“Of course”

Will went to get up but Nico ushered him back down. He looked over his shoulders to make sure no one was still looking. He caught Jason’s face in the crowd smiling at him from beside Piper. He had a sly smirk on his face eyeing him and Will sitting beside each other. He raised an eyebrow at Nico from across the campfire. Nico suck his tongue out at Jason and then the and will faded into the shadows holding tight to Wills hand.

They reappeared sitting on top of the big house roof. From there they had a great view of the campfire and the whole camp from the strawberry fields to Canoe Lake.

Even though he was still sitting Nico swayed. The travel knocked his brain fuzzy, he was seeing double and his eyelids grew heavy. His ears rang and everything stared to flash white. The oh to familiar feeling of passing out. He gripped the roof shingles for support. Wil, looked no better. This was Wills first time shadow traveling. Which was pretty disorienting. Yet he shook his head and composed himself.

“Whoa there death boy” Will said and steadied Nico against himself.

Nico didn’t pull back he let himself fall into Wills shoulder. Nico groaned.

“Here drink this” Will said as he passed Nico a water bottle from his sweater. “Its’s unicorn horn and Tiber river water. I got some from Reyna before she left. As I heard it’s the only thing that works for you.”

Nico thought it was wired that Will had taken it upon himself to carry the unicorn water with himself just in case Nico needed it, but he didn’t protest and drank half he bottle. He felt much better after a few minutes. Although he was now still pretty tired, as though he ran 5 k and then ended up on the roof.

“So why are we up here?” Will asked. “Not that I’m complaining I mean it’s very beautiful up here I’ve never seen camp from this angle”

Nico sat up from Wills support. He gently laid his hand on Wills which was holding on to the roof.

“I wanted to say I like you too” Nico said.

Will smiled wide.

“Although I’m not sure why you like me. I mean I’m all dark and scary to everyone else. Most people don’t really like the whole death thing very much”

Will let out a small laugh.

“Really because as I see it for a guy who wear nothing but black and commutes to the underworld you’re a big softy. Also for a big softie you’re also the most powerful demigod I have ever met. It’s super attractive. I mean watching you fight during the battle, Wow. I’ve never seen someone so… just wow. And you’re kind of cute I guess” Will replied.

Now that Nico admitted to liking Will he noticed Will was getting some of his son of Apollo ego back.

Nico smiled. He felt a little more courageous around Will “Kind of unfair don’t you think? You get kind of cute and I get smoking hot.”

Wills smiled couldn’t get any bigger. His tan skin glowed in the dark, his hair stuck out like a dirty blond flag, and his teeth shone white against the black sky.

From where Will was sitting all he could see of Nico was his pale face like a moon. His dark hair and clothes blended into the night seamlessly. Will could make out where his eye where though. They twinkled in the moonlight mimicking the stars behind Nico. Will had heard about opposites attracting. And this was definitely the case. His dad the god of the sun and warmth, and Nico son of the god who represented everything about the cold dark. They would perfectly balance each other.

They sat in silence listening to the campers sing camp songs. Nico still held Wills hand. It was warm and Nico used it reheat his cold fingers. The fireworks stared over the lake. And Nico had to give it to the Hephaestus kids they were the best fireworks he had ever seen. The fireworks formed bright colorful constellations of ancient gods and heroes who re-enacted their tales in the sky. From below they could just make out the voices Will’s cabin mates reciting out their stories in song as the fireworks danced across the sky. Hercules wrestle with a hydra in the sky in dazzling blue and purple.

Nico was listening intently and gazing up at the sky. He laughed when they started to tell the tales of the adventures the crew of the Argo 2 had gone on. They got to the part of the story where Heracles got buried with coconuts by the great hero Piper. Nico could make out Jason and Piper standing on a picnic table. Jason held up Piper’s arms and ushered for her to make a bow. Nico laughed and then turned his head to watch Will. Will was laughing as well, listening to the story for the first time. Then next thing Nico knew he was pressing his lips up against Wills. He wrapped his arms around Wills neck and pulled him closer. Will was shocked for a second and then leaned into the kiss more enthusiastically than Nico. He curled one hand into Nico’s hair behind his head and the other went down to his lower back. Nico moved his lips to match the pace if Wills. He had never kissed anyone before so he was slowly following Wills lead hoping he was doing it right. His head swan with heat. He completely forgot where they were. He could smell sunshine and citrus coming from Wills hair, his lips tasted like orange juice and freshly picked strawberries. He gasped for breath, he had forgot to breath. Will pulled his face back from Nico’s but they kept their hand there they were.

Nico looked into Wills eyes. They were shinning bright blue as if a small piece of the clear daytime sky was shining through the night.

“You ok?” Will asked. ”You’re swaying. Are you going to pass out? Do you need anything?” Will asked.

“I’m fine, just new to this” Nico admitted.

Will smiled “Ok, can I kiss you again then?”

Will didn’t need an answer because Nico flew himself back toward Wills lips. Nico could feel Will smiling as he kissed him. Will rubbed his fingers into Nico’s hair massaging his head slightly and to hold it steady as his increased he intensity of his kiss. Nico tighten his grasp around Wills neck.

*

When the last of the fireworks died out and campers could be seen walking back to their cabin will looked down at Nico. Nico was curled up under Wills arms leaning against his shoulder. His arms were wrapped around Wills waist. Will smiled. He felt like he was on top of the world, not just the Big House roof.

He shook Nico awake gently. Nico’s eyes fluttered open and he grumbled.

“You missed the best part of the fireworks. They talked about your heroic escape and fights and journey. They went to make you stand up to bow no one could find you “ Will laughed.

Nico made a sarcastic face.

“Jason saw me disappear with you. Hell cover me” Nico said.

Will looked at him quizzically. Nico had been very adamant about keep them a secret for now, yet Jason knew. Nico must had read his thought because he started to explain about how Jason was the first to know about Nico’s secrets. And how Jason had helped him through his fight with cupid .Will listened quietly. He didn’t know about any of this but he felt grateful Nico was sharing it with him. It helped him understand Nico’s reclusive behaviour towards him and Camp Half-blood.

“The only other 2 people to know are Coach Hedge and Reyna. They saw my feelings of fear and hate when I unleashed in on our trip with the Parthenos.”

Will nodded. His leaned in and kissed Nico on the cheek.

“Come one death boy. Let’s climb down before the harpies come and eat us for a late night snack.”

Nico punched him arm but returned the kiss on the cheek to Will.

When Will got back to his cabin his siblings demanded to know where he disappeared to but Will shook them off by slipping into the bathroom. Although he was pretty sure he could hear them hypothesizing where he had been. Seeing as only 1 other camper went missing that night.


End file.
